Knight Tales: The Labor Story

So I am finally getting a chance to write about how Evan came into the world just nine days ago. It all began while watching "So You Think You Can Dance" at our friend Amanda's parent's house. I was getting contractions, but didn't think too much about it as I had been getting similar contractions the day before and throughout the day, but just thought things were working up to our little guy coming out at some point. After visiting the doctor earlier in the day, Jim and I were thinking we probably still had a little bit of a wait, but Evan had a different plan. After the show we headed home about 10:00 p.m. and then felt like a lite dessert snack and stopped at McDonald's to get their apple pie special 2 for a $1, can't beat that price. At this point I knew I wasn't feeling to great as I was getting more pains and was very cranky as we had to wait in the drive thru line for some really slow cars ahead of us, but still didn't completely know we were in labor. It all really started to seem real when we went to bed and I started watching the clock as I lay there feeling the pain more and more consistently from about 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. At this point I told Jim I was having lots of pain and he started watching the clock too; finally I couldn't stay in bed any longer it was definitely hurting, however the contractions were coming rather quick about two to three minutes apart. Jim was very surprised how fast labor was progressing as I didn't really mention to much to him while watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and it was hard for him to believe I was having labor so quickly. But labor was definitely taking place. We called the doctor at 2:00 a.m. and then headed to the hospital at about 4:00 a.m. The doctor said we could stay at home as long as we were comfortable since the beginning of labor usually takes awhile for first time moms. Here is a picture of me right before we left for the hospital between contractions.

Once we arrived at the hospital we checked in and were greeted by a familiar face. It was a friend that we used to work in the nursery with at RockHarbor- our first nurse, Keleigh. She was fantastic and so sweet. When we first got there we had to go to the recovery room at the hospital because apparently there were a lot of babies being born at this particular day and time. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and they determined I was about 3 centimeters at the time. We stayed in the recovery room until our official labor room was available, we were in there probably for about two hours or so. Here is a picture of me in the recovery room, hanging in there and trying to smile. The pain at this point was pretty bad and I had decided it was sounding fabulous to get the epidural.

Once we were moved to our official labor room, they proceeded to hook up my IV and take some blood and then were going to proceed with the epidural. Everything was going very well, expect they couldn't get a blood sample. After checking almost all my veins they finally called in the lab techs to get a sample. The funny thing is I didn't mind getting pricked in a variety of places as it was a nice distraction from the very uncomfortable contractions. Kinda crazy, I know. :) Our anesthesiologist was fabulous, Dr. King, she did an amazing job with the epidermal and the pain was gone instantly -such relief. The only downside was I had to be on either my right or left side throughout the reminder of the labor process until we started pushing. However, I really didn't mind as I was able to relax now without the pain. Also during this time our fantastic nurse Keleigh was off for the day and we were greeted by our new nurse, Joan who stayed with us until Evan finally came into the world.

Now that things had calmed down a bit with the pain, Jim and I were able to rest for awhile before our families arrived. My parents were able to get a flight early that morning from Sacramento and arrived at the hospital about 10:30 a.m., thanks to our dear friend Amanda picking them up at the OC airport. Jim's mom drove from Riverside and arrived just a little bit before they did. It was nice to see them all and we all were looking forward to getting the little guy out real soon. Here are some pictures of us before baby came into the world. As well as a picture from the incredible view from our room.

Jim anticipating our new little man real soon!

My mom and dad posing pretty with me before the big event.

Jim and his mom hanging our in the labor room during some down time.

The ocean view...definitely a nice distraction to look at during labor. One of the perks of delivering at Hoag Hospital.

While stile laboring, Joan had me wearing an oxygen mask, as she thought the extra oxygen was good for the baby. Here I am looking real cool in the mask and pointing to our little guy still in the oven.

I also got to eat lots of ice chips. Here Jim is feeding me some of the delicious treat. Every hour you could also eat a Popsicle. I only had one. It was grape flavored and very yummy!

Everything was going really well and I was dilating according to schedule; then I started to feel this really bad pain in my right leg. The pain was coming with every contraction. Dr. King came back and told me that unfortunately the epidural couldn't do much to help this pain as the baby was probably effecting my sciatica nerve and this was causing the pain. At this point I was really thankful for the epidural, because this new pain was awful. Jim was helping me breath through the contractions and my mom was helping to apply pressure to the leg. At one point I had a breakdown and they provided a little more pain relief, this was helpful. Here is a picture of me in pain. You can see the contractions on the monitor in the background. Good times! :)

I must say that Jim was the best coach in the world. Labor was truly a team effort and I love my husband so much!

During the delivery, we were also aided by another nurse, Donna. She delivered the good news that we would start pushing soon and that they were hoping to have our little guy delivered by this afternoon. Throughout this time we were also visited by our doctors, Dr. Illeck and Dr. Dubuyak. Each came throughout our time at the hospital and checked on my progress, they were also there during the pushing. Dr. Dubuyak was the one who finally helped us deliver Evan. She was amazing and so supportive and encouraging. Thanks Dr. Dubuyak!

After a LOT of work, Evan Asher came into the world! It was a true miracle. The Lord truly blessed our family in so many ways. I can't even describe the feeling, Jim was so happy and full of joy after seeing him coming out too.

Here are Evan's first pictures, what a little lover boy! He did have a slight cone head when coming out, but it is all gone now. Also, the funny thing is that there were so many kids being born when our little guy came out that they didn't have a blue hat for him and gave him a purple and pink one to start you will notice this hat with the picture with Joan. Later they corrected the problem and gave him a more gender neutral color- white! :) Shown in the other pictures.

Here is Evan getting all checked out and examined right after he came out. His umbilical cord was around his neck so they had to make sure a few extra nurses were on hand, but everything was perfect about our little guy.

Pictured here is our faithful nurse Joan who even stayed passed her 7:00 p.m. shift to see Evan come into the world, right before they handed him back to Jim and I for our special time. (Notice the pink and purple hat.)

The happy family, so thankful and elated about our bundle of joy! (Here Evan has on the white hat.) :)

Proud papa gazing at his son. Evan and him are already having fun together in this picture, where Evan sticks out his tongue at his Dad. So cute!

Here I am admiring my son too! So amazing...I loved him instantly. I know all moms say this, but it is so true.

Grandma and Grandpa Thompson so excited to be holding their first grandchild.

Here is Grandma Knight also beaming with delight at her first grandchild too.

During our stay we also had some of our fabulous friends come visit us at the hospital on day two. Pictured from left to right with Evan are Robyn, Sarah, Amanda, Jenae, Phillip and little Kahanah.